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Let me start out by saying: I hate making reservations in Canyonlands National Park! It’s why I haven’t been to The Maze yet (or the White Rim for that matter). Last year I finally decided I wanted to go to The Maze and actually made reservations, took the time off from work and planned the trip ahead of time. The trip is supposed to start on Saturday.

Things aren’t looking good, and I’m pretty upset about it!

Here’s an email I received from Canyonlands yesterday…

Randy,

In the unfortunate event that federal employees are furloughed, the national park system, including Canyonlands National Park, will be closed. We wanted to provide advance notice that you may not be able to begin your backcountry trip due to this closure. *If this closure prevents you from using your current reservation, we will be glad to try and rebook your reservation for a future date.

If you decide to cancel your reservation and you paid by credit card we will refund your reservation fee back to your credit card.

If you paid by means other than credit card we will refund your reservation fee once we are provided guidance on how to process these payments.

I have contacted the park, and apparently if they shut down, they will be kicking people out and making sure no one enters. Law Enforcement is considered ‘essential personnel’ and their only job during the government shutdown would be keeping people out of the parks.

After work I met Jackson at the Colorado National Monument so that we could try to get a photo of the moon coming up over Mount Garfield. Unfortunately, there were some low clouds right over Mount Garfield that prevented a shot right as it was rising over it, but I did manage to get these photos after the moon came up over the clouds.

Earlier today I was made aware that this arch had collapsed sometime this year. After searching for more information, I found this page on the Natural Arch and Bridge Society’s website that confirmed the collapse and had a few photos of this arch over the years that shows it’s demise.